Russia: Attempts to link us to ill ex-agent in Britain designed to spoil ties

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A still image taken from video shows Sergei Skripal, a former colonel of Russia's GRU military intelligence service, attending a hearing at the Moscow military district court, Russia August 9 2006. RTR/via Reuters TV

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that attempts in Britain to link Russia to a mysterious illness which has struck down a Russian former double agent looked designed to worsen relations between London and Moscow.

Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the ministry, told reporters at a briefing that the allegations were being used to whip up an anti-Russian campaign in Britain.

Sergei Skripal, once a colonel in Russia’s GRU military intelligence service, and his 33-year-old daughter, Yulia, were found slumped unconscious on a bench outside a shopping centre in the southern English city of Salisbury on Sunday afternoon.